SOUTH BEND -- The dance faculty and students at the Raclin School of the Arts at Indiana University South Bend present "Studies in Dance: A Lecture Demonstration" at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Northside Hall's Campus Auditorium. "Studies in Dance" will feature segments about ballet, flamenco, jazz, Latin, Middle Eastern, modern and social dance. Halana Hattery, Carolynn Hine-Johnson, Ruby Jazayre, Karen Pajor, Vladimir Sorokin and David Seymour will be the presenting faculty. Not a typical dance recital, "Studies in Dance" will be a sampling of different dance techniques and styles.

DOWAGIAC — Southwestern Michigan College’s spring dance concert, “In Retrospect,” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the Dale A. Lyons building theater. The program will feature performances celebrating a decade of dance at the college, including new works by student choreographers Hannah Oliver, Chelsea Laylin, Lindsay Heidenreich, Tyrell Hunt and Sydney Harner. In addition, two collaborative projects, “Voices” and “Identities,” will be highlighted.

BRIDGMAN -- Immanuel Lutheran Church, 9650 N. Church St., Bridgman, will host a German smorgasbord and polka dance from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday. The cost is $10 per person. Variety and polka music provided by Wil Smaka's MusiConnection. RSVP is encouraged but not required. Call 269-465-6031.

MISHAWAKA -- Ruby Jazayre presents "Evening at the Oasis" with Dalia Carella at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Battell Community Center, 904 N. Main St. Based in New York City, Carella is a world fusion artist, choreographer and instructor who specializes in Near/Middle Eastern and contemporary dance theater. Carella has delved deeply in the studies of dances from the Near and Middle East, including Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon and North Africa, including Morocco and Algeria. Her dances are both traditional and contemporary with a spiritual and mystical essence behind each dance she creates.

SOUTH BEND - A Valentine's Day Social and Dance will take place from 7 to 10 p.m. Feb. 11 at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church Social Hall, 63598 U.S. 31 S., South Bend. Entertainment will be provided by the Music Machine. There will be a cash bar and snacks. Cost is $15 for one ticket or $25 for two. Call the parish office at 574-291-3775 for tickets. The event is for ages 21 and older.

SOUTH BEND — An Armed Forces USO Dinner will take place May 21 at ZB Falcons Nest 80, Western and Sheridan. Cocktails will begin at 5, followed by dinner at 6 p.m. Golden Memories Orchestra will provide dance music from 7 to 10 p.m. Cost is $22 per person, with proceeds going to the Military Honor Park and Museum, at the main entrance of the South Bend Regional Airport. Call 574-232-4300 or 574-288-5455 for information.

DOWAGIAC -- The Youth Arts Festival at Southwestern Michigan College will be on Saturday and is designed to give area youth a chance to showcase their talents for a panel of judges. Dance companies from Kalamazoo, Van Buren, Cass and Berrien counties are expected to participate in the event. Dancers also will be able to take a class from the judges. Space is still available to dancers. Call 269-783-0881 or 269-580-1447 for reservations for contemporary, ballet and Giordano style jazz classes.

The big dance. Hannah Jacobs , 17, is a fighter. And she has a bunch of friends in Plymouth who are fighting along with her. Sometimes fighting takes the form of dancing. Hannah is a junior at Plymouth High School. She serves as student president and co-founder of the Plymouth High School Dance Marathon. The dance was Jan. 12 at the high school. More than 200 dancers raised more than $17,000, which beat last year's total by nearly $7,000. She is the daughter of Lisa and Art Jacobs . For her work with the marathon, she was recognized in November as one of the Riley Champions.

DOWAGIAC -- Positively Dance will sponsor a pancake and sausage breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m. Saturday at Patrick Hamilton Elementary School. The meal will honor MacKenzie Bunn, a former Positively Dance member and now teacher and choreographer who has been diagnosed with a rare blood disease. She's been receiving chemotherapy treatments at the University of Michigan. All proceeds will assist Bunn and her family with medical and travel expenses related to her treatments. Tickets will be available at the door at a cost of $5 for adults and $4 for children 12 and younger.

Have some fun without breaking the bank! Check out these 5 events happening in South Bend this week that cost $10 or less. Healthy Kids Day What: Healthy Kids Day is the nation's largest initiative bringing families and communities together to kickoff a summer of physical activity and learning. Have fun keeping your bodies and minds busy in activity stations, and stay for an hour of family swim time! When: 9-11 a.m. Saturday Where: Michiana Family YMCA, 1201 Northside Blvd., South Bend Price: Free For: All ages More info: 574-287-9622 or michianaymca.org Beats Without Borders: Global Dance Event What: World rhythm.

PLYMOUTH - Come and celebrate National Dance Week at the Plymouth Public Library with Marcia Heintzberger, who is the ballet instructor at LifePlex Dance Academy. She will be offering a dance workshop from 6 to 7 p.m. April 30 for grades 3-6. The workshop will incorporate everyday movement such as turning, walking, jumping, and stretching into dance choreography. The workshop is free and space is limited to 30 students. LifePlex Dance Academy is sponsoring a poster contest open for grades kindergarten to 12. This year's theme is “The Colorful Movement of Dance.” The poster should be freehand art of any dance movement medium on a poster size 8-by-10 inches or larger.

It's a show of life. Not a cooking class. “About …” TV chef Jon Ashton says, “getting our wonderful folks together in the community, and food brings people together and it creates memories.” So bring your appetites, your funny bone, your dancing shoes even, and a hunger for a new recipe or two game-planned to whip up in the comfy confines of your own kitchen courtesy of a nationally renowned chef live, in living color....

MICHIGAN CITY -- Parents Without Partners will host its Spring Fling Dance beginning with dinner at 6:30 p.m. CST Saturday at Skwiat American Legion Post 451, 121 Skwiat Legion Ave. The dance will be from 7:30 to 11 p.m. A donation of $7 is requested. Those planning to attend should take a food dish to share.

Sylvester Potts thinks about Bobby Rogers a lot these days. A member of the Motown group The Miracles, Rogers died March 3. Potts was a friend and member of another Motown singing group, The Contours. And it was Rogers who suggested The Contours perform while being backed by a full symphony orchestra. Potts says he took Rogers' advice and the new arrangement added a new element to the group's concerts. The Contours have performed while backed by an orchestra for about five years, and they return to the area Saturday to perform with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra.

It takes heart to make a difference, and heart is behind Dance Marathon at Saint Mary's College. The annual student-led event raises funds for Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, where sick children from around the state find care. In fact, families from St. Joseph County and surrounding counties turn to Riley Hospital and its regional clinics more than 5,500 times each year. The marathon supports the General Benefit Fund, which funds areas of the hospital that have the greatest need including clinical programs and medical research.

SOUTH BEND -- It's a moving experience when Nasha Thomas-Schmitt brings the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's program to schools. Thomas-Schmitt, a dancer now in charge of the company's outreach program, put students in the South Bend Community School Corporation's arts magnets and others through their paces last week in advance of an Alvin Ailey performance coming Tuesday and Wednesday at the University of Notre Dame. The shows are sold out. “Anybody can dance,” she explained to more than 50 students at Dickinson Intermediate Fine Arts Academy.

SOUTH BEND -- A free-form dance event featuring world beat global fusion music and open to the public will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday at The Potawatomi Conservatories, 2105 Mishawaka Ave. Admission is $3 for nonmembers of the conservatories. For more information, e-mail info@dancing-lotus.com.

SOUTH BEND -- On Valentine's Day, instead of waiting for chocolate and flowers from loved ones, a group of Michiana women will join together with people across the world to bring awareness to violence against women. According to the website onebillionrising.com, the event celebrates the 15th Anniversary of V-Day, a movement to stop violence against women and girls across the globe. The movement was founded by activist Even Ensler, a playwright most known for "The Vagina Monologues.